A very interesting cartoon - and no one eats spinach!
This cartoon is interesting for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that opening 3-D stereo-optical shot that starts off the cartoon. This is also interesting in that I believe it's the first one where Olive is fickled, as the cartoon begins with Popeye reading a "Dear John" letter from Olive where she explains that she's left him for Bluto. As in POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES (which was nearing completion around the time this cartoon was released) ) rather than ravage Olive's body, Bluto puts her to work painting his plane while he flies around in it(the FORTY THIEVES force her to do their laundry). I always took the concept of Olive's various kidnappers putting her to work as the Fleischers way of lampooning how "wholesome" their pictures had to be under the Hays Code, the Hollywood censorship policies, which all but destroyed the Fleischer's earlier iconic superstar & sex symbol, Betty Boop(who had to start wearing longer skirts in the cartoons). Once the Fleischers left the Popeye cartoons (around the beginning of the U.S. involvementin WWII) Olive's whole character became that of a fickled woman who leaves Popeye for Bluto in virtually every cartoon, instead of the fleshed out character she is in these early shorts. I really like the umbrella gag in this cartoon too.
- wilhelmurg
- Jan 28, 2014